Where mobile telephones were perhaps viewed by many as a luxury when first introduced into the marketplace, they are today viewed by our society as very important, convenient, and useful tools. A great number of people now carry their mobile devices with them wherever they go. This popularity of wireless communication has spawned a multitude of new wireless systems, devices, protocols, etc. Consumer demand for advanced wireless functions and capabilities has also fueled a wide range of technological advances in the utility and capabilities of wireless devices. Wireless/mobile devices not only allow voice communication, but also facilitate messaging, multimedia communications, e-mail, Internet browsing, and access to a wide range of wireless applications and services.
However, some applications or services that might be available for use on a mobile device may be of little value, until the user is placed in a particular context or location in which such applications and/or services may be very useful. This has led to a concept generally referred to as location-based services. Generally, existing location-based services have been directed to a situation where a person who is unfamiliar with his/her present surroundings can obtain location information from the wireless network, and then browse for certain information or services in that location. For example, a tourist may be in an unfamiliar city, and may be looking for the nearest one of her favorite franchise restaurants. With her consent, the network can measure her current location. Once her location information has been obtained at the network, she can be notified of her location by the network, thereby allowing her to search/browse for services around that location. Alternatively, after the network has determined the user's location, a network-resident program may be initiated to find services or information in that location. However, such an approach is complex and difficult to scale to large numbers of users and network traffic for frequent location determinations.
Another approach is to measure the position of the user with the assistance of the cellular network (e.g., Enhanced Observed Time Difference; EOTD), or with totally handset-based methods such as Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. Network-assisted methods would require that the terminal requests location data frequently, causing a great burden to the location infrastructure. Similarly, the use of GPS would undesirably increase the handset power consumption for these frequent location updates.
Further, these systems are directed to situations where the user is unfamiliar with his/her surroundings. However, it is more often the case that mobile terminal users are in a location in which they are familiar, and in fact they may frequent such locations on a regular basis. The prior art methods do not address this situation, and instead address the situation where the mobile terminal users need help because they are unfamiliar with their current surroundings. There is a need to provide location-based service and application triggering for users who may return to a location, without imposing heavy burdens on the network infrastructure. The present invention fulfills these and other needs, and offers other advantages over the prior art.